Team News – Man United vs Midtjylland
Louis van Gaal has confirmed that David de Gea will miss Manchester United’s crucial Europa League clash against Midtjylland tomorrow night.
The keeper injured his knee during the warm-up for the Red Devils’ first-leg defeat in Denmark a week ago and has failed to recover in time for the second leg at Old Trafford.
When asked about the Spaniard’s availability for the game tomorrow, the United manager said:
I was hoping for that but he shall not be involved, that is already certain.
However, the Dutchman has confirmed that Marcos Rojo will be returning, albeit on the bench, against the Danish champions. The Argentinian defender has been out since November with a dislocated shoulder but trained with the first-team at Carrington ahead of tomorrow’s clash.
Van Gaal said:
Rojo has only trained with the second team yesterday and today with the first squad so he’s on the bench but is only good for 20 minutes or something like that.
Antonio Valencia also trained at Carrington today, having been sidelined since October with a foot injury, but van Gaal said that the Ecuadorian is not ready to play just yet:
Valencia didn’t train with our first squad, only individually as part of his own programme.
Under-21 keeper Joel Castro Pereira and Under-18 striker Marcus Rashford also joined first-team training at Carrington ahead of the clash against Midtjylland, and both are expected to be on the bench with United’s current injury problems.
Adnan Janzuaj was another player who has recovered from injury and he also took part in training. However, the Belgian is cup-tied for Europa League games, but he will certainly be a striking option for van Gaal with Wayne Rooney’s knee injury.